November 2007 - Page 6 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Theorems of the Sick Child and/or The Sick Parent

At least for me:
If I am well, and the child is well, well, that’s fine.
If I am well, and the child is sick, I can deal with that.
If I am sick and the child is sick, I can muddle through.
BUT
If I am sick, but the child is well, but doesn’t want to go to day care because some boy said that she was a boy (probably because of her short haircut), information about which I torturously had to pry out her over a three-hour period, then this is not good, because she wants to do stuff, and all I want to do is SLEEP, which I failed to do yesterday.

So, after I go vote, that’s what I’m going to do today, thank you very much. And re: voting, I’ll probably vote for at least one Republican, which, in Democratic-machine Albany, is no big whoop. Also, there’s a little-mentioned Constitutional amendment for New Yorkers to vote on. From the Adirondack Club:
Since 1930, the Raquette Lake Reservoir has supplied the community with drinking water, but for the past five years, Raquette Lake has been under a “boil water” order from the state Department of Health. To address the water contamination problem, the town needs wells on state Forest Preserve land adjacent to the hamlet.
The “Forever Wild” clause of the New York Constitution permits reservoirs on the Forest Preserve, but makes no provision for drinking-water wells, so a constitutional amendment is needed so the town can legally move forward with this much-needed project. The amendment was twice approved unanimously by the state Legislature, and it is now up to voters statewide to OK it.
As one e-mail from a generally reliable source puts it, “Constitutional amendments make people nervous, and that’s probably a good thing. I believe that these drinking water wells do not signal a danger for environmental groups and are not antagonistic to the original intent of protecting the Adirondack Forest.”

Lots more to blog about, but no energy to describe things such as the Albany Symphony Orchestra concert last month featuring erhu player Betti Xiang, which Carol and I saw with our friends Bruce and Cenzi. Wonderful concert, wonderful time, but no pithy observations, except to note that the two-stringed instrument could, surprisingly, be more lyrically expressive than a four-string violin.

ROG

Scary meme

Yeah, I know Halloween is over; I don’t care. From Jaquandor via Tosy.

1. What is your favorite work of horror fiction?

I have no idea. I’ve never read any horror novels, though I’ve seen movie adaptations of some of Stephen King’s work.
I was talking just recently to someone about Rolf Stark. He was an artist published for a time by FantaCo. His work, some of which was more like horror fact than fiction, was quite disturbing.

2. Who is your favorite monster?

The monster of Frankenstein. Or Grover.

3. What horror movie gives you the most chills?

I still don’t remember the title. I was nine or ten at the time. The story involved this woman who was old and/or homely but became lovely through this potion. Men found her irresistible, but if they kissed her, she’d revert to her former self. She had to kill them, using some ring to the jugular, and blow some powder to return to her beautiful self. I was about 10 or 11, so this movie came out before 1964. The thing gave me nightmares for MONTHS. It was, quite literally, a pain in the neck.

4. Freddy versus Jason?

I ODed on Freddy. FantaCo sold Freddy gloves, Freddy masks. That said, Jason seemed like a doofus in a hockey mask. Probably Freddy, barely.

5. Ghosts or goblins?

Friendly ghosts like Casper.

6. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal?

I don’t know that it was “paranormal” but I spoke in tongues once.

7. Do you believe in ghosts?

I consider the thought that people from beyond watching over me undisturbing.

8. Favorite Halloween costume?

This one.

9. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your fantasy costume be for this Halloween?

Chuck Berry.

10. When was the last time you went trick or treating?

Seventh or eighth grade.

11. What’s your favorite Halloween candy?

Mark Evanier is convinced that nobody likes candy corn, and even posted a Lewis Black video from YouTube (alas, no longer available) to prove his point. He’s wrong, though this season I probably only had about a half dozen.

12. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.

I had a recurring nightmare of being in the back of a large automobile, it crashing through the railings of a bridge, crashing into the river, and sinking to the bottom. The level of intensity depended on how open the windows were; it was usually a slow leak into the vehicle.

13. What is your supernatural fear?

I don’t have any.

14. What is your creepy-crawlie fear?

Snakes. don’t matter that there are probably none of the venomous variety around here. Oh, and rats.

15. Would you ever stay in a real haunted house overnight?

Sure, why not?

16. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O’Lantern carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?

Well, this year’ pumpkin, carved by my wife, had two faces – a smiling face and a scary face.

17. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?

Not at all.

18. Do you think Halloween is too commercial these days?

No, but I don’t want to think about it in August.
***
More scary things:
The New England Patriots are now 9-0, after their 24-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
The Writers’ Guild strike is underway. Or is it Writers’ Guilds, since there’s a WGA East and a WGA West. Most of what I know about this comes from Evanier, but it seems reasonable that writers should benefit from the newer technologies such as DVD and video streaming.

ROG

Hairless

My hair, and especially my beard, was becoming a scruffy mess. In the past, my father, my sister, or significant others have cut my hair, but not Carol. So I have to find time to squeeze in a visit to the barber shop between all the busyness.

On Monday past, I had to go to the eye doctor – boy, I’m looking forward to new glasses, since my most recent pair broke in July, and I’ve been using a pair I got in 1999. And I had a Friends of the Library meeting at the end of the day. In between, I got a haircut, and not just a trim, but a shave-it-all-off thing. It wasn’t in solidarity with National Breast Cancer Month or anything; it was just a whim when the barber asked what I wanted.

First thing I noticed: it’s cold out. Even the minimal covering of my receding hairline was providing some warmth, so the hat’s the thing. Second, most people claim to like it; wonder how it’ll look with the new specs.

Anyway, I’m a little under the weather (I was home sick on Friday). I can’t blame it on the short cut, though, because my daughter was ALSO home sick on Friday and my wife came home early, not feeling particularly well.

So, we’re gonna stop here and save our energy.

– ROG

VOTING Questions

Election Day is Tuesday, and you’ll be sure to discover on Wednesday that fewer people vote in off-year/non-Presidential years than will vote next year, as shown here (PDF), here and here. It’s ironic, I think, because one has a much greater voice in municipal elections than in the Presidential race. Even next November, more people will vote at the top of the ticket, and ignore the “lesser” races.

I’ve been involved in “get-out-the-vote” pitches before. My last strategy, sort of a reverse psychology thing, was “don’t vote – mote power for me”. So:

1. Are you voting on Tuesday? Why or why not/ I am, just so I can kvetch about the results.
2. What would it take to get more people to vote? (Electronic voting, instant runoff voting, bribery – somewhere in the Southwest, they offered a random voter a cash prize for voting, which turned out to be of dubious legality.) I think IRV’s a good idea in multi-candidate (3 or more) elections, but it won’t solve the ennui problem.
***
Pulse Poll of the Democratic candidates for President, with videos delineating a couple of their positions.

ROG

Follow Up

Since today is my fifth semianniversary (or is demi, or maybe hemi?), but in any case, 2.5 years, I thought I’d write a little about things I’ve written about in the (usually recent) past.
***
If you listen to Gordon’s podcast where he answers questions, you’ll hear me asking him some irreverent question about Raymond Burr, inspired, no doubt by a picture of Burr as Ironside on Gordon’s blog a couple weeks back. It made sense at the time.
***
The scariest Halloween costume I saw was this woman dressed up as a baby, all in pink, smoking a cigarette. Truly frightening.

Ken Levine wrote: “We had a dentist who gave out toothbrushes [for Halloween]. Thank goodness he wasn’t a proctologist.”
***
In the Supreme Court stay of execution this week, the lawyers for the defendant said, “It is clear that irreparable harm will result if no stay is granted.” Well, yeah. If a lawyer says it, it’s legalese; if anyone else had said it, it’d be d’oh-worthy.
***
I’ve mentioned more than once about why I left the Methodist church I had been attending for over 17 years, of which I was a member for most of that time. Now, it’s come out that the pastor, who was at least in the center of my departure, has retired, and not willingly; here’s a letter from an apologist of his. My wife and I had to at least briefly think about what this meant to us. We’re happy where we are, but we do miss some of the folks at the old place. What made it easy for me, though, was hearing about some internecine fight over whether someone who opposed the pastor should now chair the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee. And I realize that I don’t miss the grief.
***
My sister Leslie wrote to me: “San Diego has been hit hard, thousands of homes lost, I could see the fire from outside my front door, so we were packed up and ready to go in the event of an evacuation, but thank God, we were spared.”

***
Yeah, I’m happy that the Red Sox won; I picked them to win in six. The TV grid for the FOX network said the game was in a three-hour slot, but the games didn’t even start until 8:30 Eastern Time, and they all ran more than 3 hours. I’m thrilled by the sweep, because it means more sleep. I’d watch the game as long as I could stay alert, then record on the DVR programing up through 1:30 a.m., then wake up and watch in the morning. The key to watching the playback is to make sure that when I turn off the TV, to set it first to some non-sports station that does not have morning news; I recommend the Home & Garden Network.
I’m still in shock that Boston College beat Virginia Tech last week; I tuned in with five minutes to go, and BC was losing 0-10, so I figured the curse of the 2nd place BCS team was holding. I couldn’t believe it when the FOX baseball announcer said that they had won 14-10.
But my Boston rooting does not extend to the NFL Patriots, though I can’t explain why; it predates the Bellicheck cheating incident. I’m rooting for the 7-0 Colts to beat the 8-0 Pats this weekend. Can we have a 16-0 team and a 0-16 team (Miami) in the same season?

Confirmation of my feelings about the Cleveland Indians mascot.
***
Yes, I know that an Albany guy appeared on Jeopardy! last week; I haven’t seen it, I haven’t read about it, so please don’t tell me about it.
***
Smashing pumpkins on the ground
Makes bicycling difficult, I’ve found.

All of the US State Laws Concerning Bicycling.

Info about Critical Mass bike rides in Tucson (several posts) and here in Albany (October 29).

Cranksgiving! Race start: 9pm, Nov 17; registration/sign-up starts 8:30pm
A charity race where ALL the $$ goes to direct action. The Homeless Action Committee is on the streets doing work night after night. You WILL NEED a lock and a bag for this one. Ride any uni or bike or trike you like; as long as it’s got wheels and pedals and is you-powered, it’s all good. You will not be turned away for excess spandex or your lack of white belts.
Pre-registration via email to soze@fork-bomb.com is encouraged for planning purposes.
***
Re: me feeling autumnal – The Stress Pig – Open the link, turn on the sound (but not too high) then, JUST CLICK ON HER NOSE. She may come in handy when you are having one of those days.
***
My prayers/good wishes go out to ADD and to Gordon’s mom.

ROG